Happy Birthday, Bela Lugosi...

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó

Born on this day in the town of Lugos, Hungary, from which he took his stage name of 'Lugosi.'

A very handsome, distinguished man of stage and screen. So much of his look reminds me of my Daddy, from the black hair to the piercing blue eyes that sparkled when he smiled. 

Yes, Bela, you gave me nightmares. Thank you, good sir. You are missed.

RIP - October 20, 1882 - August 16, 1956

Happy Birthday, Boris Karloff...

William Henry Pratt was born on this day in Victorian England, one hundred and twenty-three years ago.

Lauded for his vast array of talents that spanned much of the 20th century, the actor known the world over as Boris Karloff starred in film (including the one that made him most famous, 'Frankenstein'), stage, music and children's fare (as the narrator in 'Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas').


And to those who had the honor to have met him, of whom walked away with the impression of him being the epitome of what a kind-natured Victorian gentleman truly was... to the end.


Thank you for the astonishing legacy you have left us - and for all the delicious, immense frights you gave this author as a young girl, shuddering with fear as she watched your classic Universal Studios monster movies back in the safety and comfort of her suburban home.


I raise a glass and drink to you, dear Sir.

I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt!

One of my most favorite things in the world is camp, and I don't mean the place in the woods where you sleep in a tent, kids.

Full of unintentional humor, 'Mommy Dearest' was the movie adaptation of Christina Crawford's unflattering memoir of life with her mother, classic film star Joan Crawford. The 1981 film (starring Faye Dunaway as Joan) chronicled an aging star dealing with life, career, multiple husbands and lovers, and her adopted children.

Apparently, Mama Joan was not the kind of loving, apple pie-baking, maternal archetype that comes to mind when you think of mommies. Obsessed with presenting the image of utter perfection in her career and home, the life she created with her kids was anything but idyllic. Alcoholism and rage were the norm, and fueled many a fire in the Crawford household as she struggled to stay at the top of her game in Hollywood. One notable scene in the movie showed a midnight beating suffered by daughter Christina, who was dragged from her bed for the unforgivable sin of using simple wire hangers to hang her dresses with ("No wire hangers, everrrrrr!!!!" shrieked Dunaway's Crawford, her face luridly smeared with cold cream and contorted with uncontrolled fury).

Photo: Paramount Pictures

But the scene that possibly sent the memory of Crawford forever into campy oblivion was when she discovered how a maid accidentally left a nearly-imperceptable ring of dirt around a potted plant. Crawford - with her obsessive/neurotic hatred of and inability to tolerate even the slightest amount of dust or dirt - flies into a blathering, raging cleaning frenzy to rid the floor of the offending grime, hissing to the terrified servant, "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt!"

Chicago, IL-based band The Joans bring  rock 'n' roll campiness to the voice and legacy of the hanger-wielding La Crawford, in their hilarious video, entitled "I'm Not Mad at You, I'm Mad at the Dirt!"

Have a wonderful weekend y'all, and remember, Mother's Day is on Sunday, May 9th.